The University of Akron Athletics
Akron Women's Basketball Adds Woods to 2023-24 Signing Class
April 24 | Women's Basketball
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron women's basketball squad under the leadership of first-year head coach Ryan Gensler, has added Kaia Woods (Tiffin, Ohio) to the squad's signing class for the 2023-24 campaign.
A native of Tiffin, Ohio, Woods, a 5-3 guard comes to Akron from Washington State where she appeared in 17 games over the previous two seasons for the Cougars.
Woods played in nine games during the 2022-23 campaign and was part of a Washington State squad that captured the Pac-10 Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season and fourth time overall.
As a freshman for the Cougars during the 2021-22 season, she appeared in eight games after joining the team following the fall semester.
Woods averaged 20.2 points, 7.6 steals and 5.6 assists per game during her prep career, which was split between Tiffin Columbian High School and Hopewell-Loudon High School. A 1,000-point scorer and two-time All-Sandusky Bay Conference recipient, she was tabbed a unanimous first-team River Division selection and named the league's co-player of the year as a junior at Hopewell-Loudon.
As a sophomore, she was honored as a first-team Lake Division selection while playing for Tiffin Columbian. Prior to her senior season, she enrolled into Royal Crown Academy, a prep school in Toronto, Ontario. However, its season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led her to reclassify to the class of 2021.
Gensler on Woods – "Kaia is going to be a great guard who can impact the game on both ends. Her positive attitude is contagious as she loves the process of hard work. Coming back to her home state and having prepared in a championship culture will have her ready to impact this program immediately."
Woods joins a talented signing class that includes Lanae Riley (Akron, Ohio) and Liisa Taponen (Tampere, Finland), who joined the squad in April, as well as Olivia Brown (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern), Leila Jones (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) and Dacia Lewandowski (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic), who signed National Letters of Intent with the Zips this past November.
The quintet will bolster an Akron roster that is set to return first-team All-Mid-American Conference junior F Reagan Bass (Strongsville, Ohio), as well as junior G Zakia Rasheed (Avon, Ind.) senior G Alexis Stewart (Hamilton, Ontario), senior G Tahmala Thorpe (Mississauga, Ontario) and sophomore F Annie Watson (Akron, Ohio).
2023-24 Akron Women's Basketball Signing Class (as of April 24, 2023)
Olivia Brown, G, 6-1, Fishers, Ind. (Hamilton Southeastern)
Leila Jones, G/F, 5-10, Westerville, Ohio (Westerville South)
Dacia Lewandowski, G, 5-11, Pittsburgh, Pa. (North Catholic)
Lanae Riley, 6-2, F, Akron, Ohio (Archbishop Hoban/Middle Tennessee State)
Liisa Taponen, 6-5, C, Tampere, Finland (Mäkelänrinteen Upper Secondary School/Illinois)
Kaia Woods, 5-3, G, Tiffin, Ohio (Royal Crown Academy/Washington State)
A native of Tiffin, Ohio, Woods, a 5-3 guard comes to Akron from Washington State where she appeared in 17 games over the previous two seasons for the Cougars.
Woods played in nine games during the 2022-23 campaign and was part of a Washington State squad that captured the Pac-10 Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season and fourth time overall.
As a freshman for the Cougars during the 2021-22 season, she appeared in eight games after joining the team following the fall semester.
Woods averaged 20.2 points, 7.6 steals and 5.6 assists per game during her prep career, which was split between Tiffin Columbian High School and Hopewell-Loudon High School. A 1,000-point scorer and two-time All-Sandusky Bay Conference recipient, she was tabbed a unanimous first-team River Division selection and named the league's co-player of the year as a junior at Hopewell-Loudon.
As a sophomore, she was honored as a first-team Lake Division selection while playing for Tiffin Columbian. Prior to her senior season, she enrolled into Royal Crown Academy, a prep school in Toronto, Ontario. However, its season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led her to reclassify to the class of 2021.
Gensler on Woods – "Kaia is going to be a great guard who can impact the game on both ends. Her positive attitude is contagious as she loves the process of hard work. Coming back to her home state and having prepared in a championship culture will have her ready to impact this program immediately."
Woods joins a talented signing class that includes Lanae Riley (Akron, Ohio) and Liisa Taponen (Tampere, Finland), who joined the squad in April, as well as Olivia Brown (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern), Leila Jones (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville South) and Dacia Lewandowski (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic), who signed National Letters of Intent with the Zips this past November.
The quintet will bolster an Akron roster that is set to return first-team All-Mid-American Conference junior F Reagan Bass (Strongsville, Ohio), as well as junior G Zakia Rasheed (Avon, Ind.) senior G Alexis Stewart (Hamilton, Ontario), senior G Tahmala Thorpe (Mississauga, Ontario) and sophomore F Annie Watson (Akron, Ohio).
2023-24 Akron Women's Basketball Signing Class (as of April 24, 2023)
Olivia Brown, G, 6-1, Fishers, Ind. (Hamilton Southeastern)
Leila Jones, G/F, 5-10, Westerville, Ohio (Westerville South)
Dacia Lewandowski, G, 5-11, Pittsburgh, Pa. (North Catholic)
Lanae Riley, 6-2, F, Akron, Ohio (Archbishop Hoban/Middle Tennessee State)
Liisa Taponen, 6-5, C, Tampere, Finland (Mäkelänrinteen Upper Secondary School/Illinois)
Kaia Woods, 5-3, G, Tiffin, Ohio (Royal Crown Academy/Washington State)
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